The Burden of Darkness and the Power of Hope
by RebelByrdie
Summary: Dark!Emma SwanQueen. Everything is different after the battle to stop Pan and save Storybrooke. Snow White is not happy with Emma and Regina's relationship and when an argument at Granny's gets out of hand Emma, the new Dark One, steps in. In the end either darkness or hope will win.


Title: The Burden of Darkness and the Power of Hope

Fandom: OUAT

Author: RebelByrdie

Rating: T

Pairings: SwanQueen, RedBeauty (Ruby insisted), mentions of Rumbelle.

Spoilers: No, just speculation really.

Author's Note: This is based off an anonymous tumblr prompt that requested Dark!Emma and Regina angst.

Summary: Storybrooke has been through hell and back and all it takes is one cross word at Granny's to bring the town's tentative peace to a screeching halt. Snow and Regina get into an argument at Granny's and when things get out of hand Emma, the new Dark One, steps in.

The Burden of Darkness and the Power of Hope

Neverland and what came after had changed everything. Some people tried to pretend otherwise, but there was no denying that things were different. The so-called Battle of Storybrooke had come to an abrupt end and the status quo of a small town in Maine had returned. Things had slowed back down to their slow, sedate, sleepy if somewhat surreal, pace. Storybrooke's rhythm was as reliable as the tide that the fishermen marked their workday by. Only it wasn't the same. There was tension in the air now. It threatened to snap like a tight rubber band and ricochet all over town, destroying the tentative peace that it's residents had found.

The Battle had not spared any part of the town, no resident had been unscathed. Granny's Diner had, by turn, served as a headquarters, a sanctuary, a makeshift field hospital before slowly converting back into a diner and coffee shop. If they ignored the cracks in the large plate glass windows and the line of black ribbons pinned to wall above the counter it was like nothing in Granny's had changed at all. Only it had. It was visible in Granny's limp and, Ruby raised a hand to the left side of her face. The thick, jagged scars and eye patch weren't exactly a fashion statement. Then again, she reminded herself for the millionth time, it could have been so much worse. She looked at the counter where the Four Dwarves left empty seats for their missing brothers, and sighed. She was lucky and she knew it. Still she swept her long hair to the left and let it fall over her face to hide the damage.

The day the tension finally broke, the day that the long-feared confrontation happened was a Tuesday. The special was the meatloaf, and the moment Regina Mills walked in, everyone knew there would be trouble.

Not that the former Evil Queen instigated trouble, just the opposite. One of the many things that had changed since Neverland had been Regina. No one could deny her part in saving the town and the risks she had taken to do so. Ruby had been close enough to the main fight to see with her own eyes (and then eye) what had really happened.

Regina's battle scars were not as physical as Granny's or her own, but the damage showed in her thin cheeks, weary eyes, and the way she seemed to grow tired after only the smallest amount of activity. She rarely left the small apartment she called home while the white mansion was being rebuilt, and when she did she was rarely alone. Today she stood in line by herself and though everyone knew she intended no harm, the people who had gathered for lunch eyed her with suspicion. It was because despite her fatigue, she was happy and that was the sticking point for many in the town. The Evil Queen's Happy Ending hadn't been a celebrated one.

"Hello, Regina."

Granny spoke to her with a smile because one of the many things that Regina had done during the battle was ensure that the only thing Ruby had lost was her eye. No matter what had happened between the two women before Eugenia Lucas would be forever in Regina's debt and made no qualms about that. Ruby had been terrified, in pain and certain that she was about to die. A few very brave people had asked her what had happened, and Ruby still had problems finding the words to explain the scene she relived several times a night in her dreams. The white-hot pain, the sticky red blood on her skin, the fear had been ice water in her heart, veins and arteries. Then there had been a light. It hadn't been the proverbial white one either. Soft violet light invaded the gray that had surrounded her. She had smelled apples and heard a soft voice speaking to her. She wasn't one to exaggerate, and she would never admit it out loud, but she had been pretty damn sure that Regina had been an angel at first. Then the words had become clear.

"_Miss Lucas, you are one of the more tolerable residents of this town and my son is attached to you, so you are going to wolf up and help me heal you. You're far too loyal, tough and good to die in the street like a mangy dog." _

High praise from Madam Mayor, indeed. She had never realized that Regina had thought so highly of her. Many people had realized many things about Regina Mills that day, it seemed.

Ruby wasn't one-hundred percent sure what all had happened, someone told her that Regina had been going from one person to the next, healing as quickly and as well as she could until the battle had taken a turn for the worst and she'd been pulled into the last final to the death (for Pan and Gold) and near-death for herself.

Regina, the so-called Evil Queen, had saved countless lives, including Ruby's. That was a debt that couldn't be easily forgotten or dismissed.

"Hello Eugenia, Ruby."

Regina's voice was raspy and quiet, still hoarse from the last horrific day of the battle. It had been over two months and Regina, like many in Storybrooke, was still recovering.

"Where's Henry today?"

Granny began to prepare three to-go cups, two cocoas with cinnamon and a cup of chamomile tea with honey and lemon, without even bothering to take Regina's order.

"With Emma."

Ruby leaned against the counter beside the other woman. Her hair fell over the left side of her face, almost obscuring the battle scar and patch, "How are the repairs coming? Are those guys working out for you? Let me know if they're stiffing you and me and Granny will go light a fire under their asses." The guys she was referring to was the rag-tag construction crew that were being paid a king's ransom to repair the decimated mayoral mansion. How much of the damage had been vandalism and how much had been battle damage was something that no one talked about.

"They're coming along well, thank you. Emma is, actually, very knowledgeable about these things. She worked in construction for six months in Houston. They've even got Henry hammering and sawing away."

A smile, genuine and far quicker than it had ever been before, spread across her face. "It's wonderful."

"I'm sure it is."

A new voice sounded off and the room suddenly crackled with energy. Snow White, clad in a jacket and knit hat the color of her namesake, stood up from her half-eaten lunch.

Regina, once quick to dispense out loathing and disdain for her long-time enemy, only sighed. "Hello, Snow."

Snow, too, had changed. Though the residents of Storybrooke still looked to her for leadership, no one could deny that she had changed, and it hadn't been for the better.

"Regina."

Her word, a single utterance, was steel and had an edge as sharp as any sword.

It was the first time the two longtime enemies had been face to face since the last battle. Since the day everything had changed. Since the turning point of so many lives. Since the Savior had become The Dark One.

For a moment neither woman said anything. The tension was so thick that it brought the room to an eerie silence, no one knew what was about to happen, but they knew that it would be unpleasant.

Ruby, who found herself playing peacemaker far more than she ever imagined she would, stepped between them. "Take it easy, Snow. She's just getting coffee." It was more than that, though, and everyone knew it. The entire town held its breath.

"Ruby." Snow hissed, "She's the Evil Queen. You fought in a war against her."

Ruby's hand raised to the left side of her face, "And I just fought in another war beside her." She shifted on her feet, "And I, for one, am tired of fighting."

A slender, almost too-thin, hand settled on Ruby's bicep.

"Its okay, Ruby, let her speak."

"_Let me_?" Snow balled her hands into fists, "I've spent my entire life trying to escape _your_ tyranny and now I need permission to _speak_?"

Ruby let Regina gently push her to the side so that she and Snow could see eye to eye. "Go ahead, Snow." Regina's hand was braced on the counter, and it seemed like more of her weight was on the counter then on her high heels.

"Go ahead? Like everything is just fine and hunkey dorey? You destroyed my daughter! You corrupted her! Emma was the Savior and now she's the Dark One!"

Regina's face remained smooth and stoic, but her eyes slid closed, like she was wincing with every word being slung at her.

"Do you think" Regina sighed, "that I wanted this?"

"You ruined my family. You took her away from me as a child and then you perverted her as an adult. You ruined my daughter!"

Regina's face, once placid, twisted into a snarl. "There is nothing _wrong_ with Emma. She isn't some sort of _broken toy_. She did what she had to do to save our son and our town. She's the same person that she ever was." Regina was shaking with anger, "She is still the Savior. She is the same woman who drove into town with our son that fateful night. She's just-"Regina's voice hitched, "struggling right now."

"Struggling?" Snow slammed her palm into the counter, "She murdered Rumpelstiltskin in the middle of the street. She stabbed Henry's grandfather and became the Dark One. For you."

A single tear slid down Regina's cheek and the Diner was silent. The memory of that moment, when the indomitable Evil Queen had been laying on the sidewalk, shaking and completely drained, near death with Henry clinging to her, crying and begging her to hang on was burned into everyone's memory.

_Pan had been closing in, a victorious smirk on his perpetually young face, and for a moment all hope had been lost. Then Emma Swan, the Savior, had stood over her son and his fallen mother, and sworn she would do anything to protect them. Pan had tried to call her bluff, but Emma had revealed the Dark One's dagger. That had surprised even Rumpelstiltskin, but no more than the quick stab she had delivered. He had clutched his wound as blood had soaked through his shirt and suit jacket. Ruby, her face covered in blood-soaked bandages, had held Belle back. Hook had held Neal back. No one had held Emma back. Dark energy had rushed around her and she destroyed Pan without flinching an inch. She had glared down at Pan's body then turned her back to the dead centuries-old teen. Imbued with new dark strength she had scooped up Regina and pressed a kiss to the barely conscious woman's forehead. Henry, speechless, stood beside her, careful to stay close to both of his mothers._

"_You picked the wrong family to fuck with, Pan."_

"It should have been you." Tears, furious and unstoppable, streaked down Snow's face. "You cast some spell on her, infatuated her, seduced her, and changed her somehow. _My daughter_ wouldn't have done that, not without a curse or enchantment. Magic." She practically spat the word, "How do I know you didn't take out her heart and make her do that?"

Regina blinked, "I would never do that. I would never, her heart, no." Regina shook her head, "I love her. I thought I would never be able to love again but she gave me Henry and then she just charged into my life and-"Regina dropped both hands, as if she couldn't articulate what she was thinking, "changed _everything_."

"You_ love_ her?" No one in the Diner had ever heard the word "love" screamed out so caustically, like it was a curse.

A smile, bright and full of joy, spread across Regina's features. It sparkled in her eyes and made her entire face change. The people had never seen their former queen and mayor smile quite like that. "Yes. I love Emma."

There was a beat of silence and then Snow lunched at Regina. Though David tried to grab her and Ruby tried to step between them again, Snow landed a single punch. It was a weak punch that only glanced off of Regina's left arm, but it made the brunette stumble backwards and fall.

Once, before the battle and its aftermath, the gathered town's people would have enjoyed seeing the forever untouchable Regina Mills get knocked down a peg, not it made them uncomfortable, itchy and guilty.

Granny was half-way around the counter, intent on helping Regina up and to a seat when the door to the Diner burst open with a loud bang. Emma stood in the doorway, golden hair blowing in the slight breeze outside, her green eyes turned into a shining, luminescent liquid quicksilver.

"Emma, I ca-"

Snow's words, whatever they were going to be, stopped mid-syllable at the twitch of Emma's hand. In fact the entire diner full of people, from Granny to Grumpy and everyone in between found themselves unable to move or speak. Emma's magic was strong and fast and the woman, herself, was furious.

She didn't say a word, she rushed to Regina's side and helped the shaky woman to her feet.

If anyone had doubted that the two women were truly in love, this was the moment that dispelled that disbelief. Emma was gentle with Regina, and kept her arms wrapped around the brunette's waist until she was steady. She spoke soft words and brushed Regina's dark hair back from her face. The townsfolk watched, amazed, as the one-time Evil Queen leaned against the blonde, giving herself over to the other woman for comfort, support and perhaps even protection.

"She hit you."

Emma's words were little more than a growl.

Regina rested her head against Emma's brown leather clad shoulder, "I'm okay, My Love. Just a little tired." The expected sass, the normal caustic remark about Snow's fighting prowess, idiocy or any number of things that she had commented upon before never came. Regina's hands rested on Emma's sculpted shoulders and her head was nestled against the blonde's neck. It was a surprisingly sweet and beautiful image that many of the diners couldn't help but envy.

One of Emma's hands rose to slide through Regina's dark hair. She ran her fingers through the dark fall of hair and whispered quietly in the other woman's ear. As tender as she was being with Regina, her eyes were locked on Snow and they held no such kindness.

"You should be able to get coffee without being attacked. After all you did for this town and these people." Emma looked around the room with a scowl on her face, "They should be on their _knees_ thanking you."

If anyone could move an inch quite a few eyebrows would have raised at that.

"No. No, Dear. I don't want that. Any of that. I just want to go home and drink my tea with my two favorite people. That's all." Regina's voice was calm, quiet, and soothing. "Let them go, My Love."

Emma pressed a kiss to Regina's temple, "For you."

All it took was a twitch of her hand and everyone could move again.

Snow wasted no time.

Emma, she put her hand on Emma's shoulder, "Please. Come with us. We can get Henry and we can fix this. I spoke with Belle and I think that we can cure you. Everything can be okay again. You don't have to be this way. We can break The Dark One's hold and whatever curse Regina put on you. Please."

Tears had sprang into Snow's eyes, "Please just come with us. Your father and I can make this better. You, me, Henry and Neal, we can be a real family."

Emma shook her shoulder and jerked out of Snow's grasp so quickly that the woman stumbled backwards. That made David surge forward, ready to defend his wife. It was eerily similar, as in identical, to the way Emma had gone to Regina when she had fallen. Father and daughter, both equally in love and devoted to their lovers.

"A _real_ family?" Emma's voice was a growl again, the softness she'd used with Regina had evaporated.

"Let me see if I understand what you mean. My parents, the perfect and infallible Snow White and Prince Charming shoved me in a magical tree portal when I was minutes old so I could come back and be the mighty _savior_." Her words were bitter and sarcastic, "I was an orphan. All alone. A Lost Girl." She turned and placed herself between Regina and Snow, as if it was to both protect her lover and attack her mother. "And Neal?" Emma shook her head, "He abandoned me too. Left me to _rot_ in prison while he ran around carefree wooing and proposing to crazy bitches and living life to the fullest with Pinocchio."

Two hands slid around Emma's waist and Regina wrapped around her from behind, resting her head between Emma's shoulder blades. Emma relaxed a fraction of an inch at the touch, but continued on her tirade with only a small hitch in her voice.

"I was scared, alone and pregnant. I had to give my son away." She reached down to cover Regina's hands with her own, "Of course that was the best decision I ever made because it eventually brought me _home_.

There were tears in Snow's eyes, "Yes to us."

Emma's laughter was short, choppy and cold, like an animal's stuttering howl. "To Regina. The other Lost Girl _you_ helped make."

Regina said nothing but went stiff.

"She's the _only_ one who plays it strait with me. She looked at me and saw exactly what and who I was. Not the savior, not some perfect daughter and mother, not a princess. Just me. Just Emma. She saw a woman with no ties to anything or anyone and she challenged me to step it the fuck up. She made me want to fight for a chance with Henry. She made me want to fight for a home and roots. She made me want to fight with her and" Emma turned and wrapped her arms around Regina once again, pulling her around and into a tight hug, "for her. She is my True Love and she and Henry are my family."

Emma tucked Regina against her and rested her chin on the other woman's dark head. "We." She dropped another kiss on the crown of Regina's head, "finally have our Happy Ending." It would have been a sweet gesture but for the ice cold menace in the blonde's voice. "And you" she stared pointedly at Snow's barely-there baby-bump, "have yours."

No one, not even Ruby, dared to step in now.

"She's evil."

Snow's voice was a hiss, "She killed my father. Your grandfather."

Emma's eyes flashed a bright silver at that, "And you killed _her_ mother, or did you think everyone conveniently forgot that the perfectly pure Snow White has a big swirling dark spot on her heart. You make an awful lot of orphans, Snow. Me, Regina, Ruby. You condemn_ me_ for killing Gold? How many have died for _your_ Happy Ending? Just because you didn't hold the knife doesn't mean there isn't blood on your fucking hands."

Her words were harsh and even as she spoke them Regina tried to calm her. Emma wasn't listening to the brunette, though, she was too angry and it showed on her face and in her swirling silver eyes.

"This is who I am. All grown up and making my own decisions. Regina didn't make me this way. I _chose_ to become The Dark One. Regina made it a point in Neverland to make sure I never darkened my heart or my magic. She darkened herself further to keep me pure. Like it was her job, her fucking destiny, to take all the pain, darkness and price. She was the villain and bad mother. And me? Well I was to be some perfect shining example of goodness. She threw away her redemption to make sure I stayed perfect and pure, the white knight in shining armor. The good mother and hero. I _hated_ it."

Snow blinked, "But you're _The Savior_."

Emma rolled her eyes, "And Regina is The Evil Queen. Only we're not. Those are just words, empty titles thought up for a kid's storybook. We're freaking people, Snow. Humans with both good and evil in us. Evil Queens" She pulled Regina even closer, wrapped around her like a vine, "can use their magic to heal and save people." A small smile drifted across Regina's face at that. "And Saviors can become dark and use their powers to_ kill_. The grimace that replaced Regina's soft smile was positively tortured. The vein on her forehead popped out and her lips trembled. Regina was obviously upset by Emma's words and the reality they described.

"So here's the thing: I became The Dark One. I did what I had to and now I have the power to keep everyone safe. I have the power to keep _my_ family safe. That's all that matters to me."

Thin lines of silver started to appear on Emma's skin. It shimmered and was almost reptilian in appearance. Emma's darkness was taking over her form.

"So I-"Snow choked on her own sobs, "we don't matter to you anymore?"

A small smirk, a dark grin, took over Emma's features, "No, but that's okay. You've got your second chance at a kid right there so you won't miss a thing. They'll be your perfect little prince or whatever and you can forget you ever had a screw up for a daughter."

"Emma."

Regina's voice was soft and full of sadness.

"Emma!"

Snow's voice was outraged and full of pain.

Regina reached out, "Snow, please, she's just angry. She doesn't really mean-"

The fact that Regina was reaching out to the woman who had just called her evil made Ruby's jaw drop. Regina really _had_ changed.

David, however, hadn't realized that so he reacted as he had every other time Regina had threatened her. He shouldered forward and knocked Regina's hand away. "Don't touch her!"

Only he hadn't taken into account his strength of Regina's new and disconcerting weakness. He sent her hand flying to the side and into the counter. Regina's small hiss of pain was all it took

Emma, once again, moved with preternatural speed and in the literal blink of Ruby's good eye, she had her hand deep into her own father's chest, fingers wrapped around his heart.

Snow let out a horrified cry of "David!"

Regina twisted around in Emma's arms, and proceeded to shock every single person in the diner.

"Emma, no."

Her tone was the same one the townsfolk had heard her use with Henry for years. It was a firm but kind command, calm and coaxing. "Emma, My Love, don't do this. Not _this_. Never this."

"He hurt you." Emma's voice was raw and harsh, barely recognizable as the sarcastic and fun-loving sheriff who had arrived in a yellow bug and turned their town upside down only a handful of months before. Her skin had turned a shining silver and her lips twitched into a scowl so feral that Ruby felt her inner wolf's hackles rise.

"I'm fine, Emma. Perfectly fine. It was an accident, just a mistake. He's your father. Trust me when I say that you don't want to do this." Her voice was moving from calm and soothing to a pleading tone now and tears had overflowed her eyes and streaked down her cheeks.

Emma's eyes flashed at the tears and the tone, she didn't move her hand out of David's chest, though. She wiped Regina's tears with the thumb of her free hand. "They've hurt you over and over. They abandoned me. They want to take you away from me and Henry away from both of us. They will _ruin_ everything. It would be easier if they didn't have hearts. They would_ have_ to love me then.

Regina touched Emma's silver-hued face gently, cupping her cheeks and chin gently. "They do love you, Emma. You're their daughter. They're idiots and idealists but they do love you. I love you. Henry loves you. You're not lost anymore, Emma. We found each other, remember?"

Emma's hand was still in David's chest but her attention had shifted fully to Regina.

"Remember you're _my_ guiding light. You're supposed to help me redeem myself and you can't do that if you do _this_. Come back, Emma." Regina's voice cracked and Ruby realized that she had never known something could be so powerful and broken at the same time. "Come back to me. You _promised_ that you wouldn't leave me. You promised me you would fight the darkness with me. You promised _our son_ that we would be a family." One of Regina's hands slid from Emma's cheek, down her neck, shoulder and arm. She wrapped her fingers around Emma's silver-skinned wrist just above David's chest. "Let go and come back to me."

Emma blinked and her hand slid back out of David's chest. He stumbled backwards, face suddenly terrified and eyes wide. Snow wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck, covering his heart with her entire body. Regina took Emma's hand, the one that had just been inside of David's chest, and settled it on her own, just above her heart.

Ruby's jaw dropped at that. The level of trust that Regina was showing was astounding.

"If you want a heart, My Love, you can take this one because it's already yours. You saved me, Emma. You saved me over and over again. You healed my dark and broken heart. You did that." More tears slid down Regina's face, "You saved everyone. Come back, Emma, come back."

It was like Regina flipped a switch. Emma blinked and her silver eyes faded back to Emma's original blue-green. Her skin transformed back to a human tinge and the blonde let out a small gasp. Everything changed. Gone was The Dark One. Emma, Emma Swan, suddenly slumped forward and all but collapsed on Regina. The shift was so sudden and abrupt that everyone but Regina and Emma was taken aback. Regina, the peerless Madam Mayor complete with the stiff spine and endless amount of strength that they all remembered suddenly returned. She pulled Emma into her and let the blonde bury her face in her neck. Regina wrapped her arms around her former enemy's body, one around her waist and one caressing the woman's long blonde hair. She whispered in Emma's ear and hummed softly.

Emma looked up after a moment, all the darkness and anger gone, "It happened again, didn't it?"

Regina only nodded.

Emma looked around, her eyes darted around at the frightened faces of the people around them.

"What did I do?" Her voice, once so confident and full of menace, shook with fear. Fear of herself.

"Nothing." Regina pulled her close again. "You didn't do anything. They were just words, My Love. Silly little words that can and _will_"Regina's eyes rose to look at Snow and David. "Be forgiven."

She ran her hands through Emma's hair, petting her gently, and "You did so well, Emma. You're winning. You're doing what I was never able to do. You're beating the darkness, Emma. You're staying good." Even as Regina reassured Emma, she tilted her head back and more tears rolled down her cheeks. Her expression was pained, fractured, lined with sorrow. "You are _good_, Emma. So good. You're going to be fine. We're going to be just fine."

Emma lifted her head again, "Can we go home?"

Regina lowered her head and pressed a soft kiss to Emma's lips. "Yes, Dear. Granny has our order ready and we will go pick up our son and watch a marathon of that wild Japanese obstacle course show you both love so much."

Emma smiled, it was a small, weak, watery expression, but a smile none the less. "Can we have those little tarts you made?"

Regina smiled through her tears and nodded her head. "Anything you want, My Love. Anything at all."

Emma kissed Regina, it was just as chaste as the one before had been, but this one was stronger and longer and when they broke Emma smiled in a way that she hadn't since before the curse had broken. "I love you." Three simple and heartfelt words that made Regina's smile grow wider and her eyes brighten.

Granny held out cardboard take-away container with three cups in it with a smile, "You girls go home and rest" Granny looked around at the rest of the diner's patrons, "and bring that boy of yours in here tomorrow morning for pancakes before school." Regina opened her mouth to decline but Granny cut her off. "I insist. What kind of restaurant would I run if the Sheriff and Mayor weren't regulars?"

Ruby nodded along to her grandmother's words and watched Regina and Emma turn and walk towards the door. Everyone took a step back as they passed, as if the two women needed a wide berth.

"Granny!" Snow gasped quietly, "How could you talk to-she's destroying _my _family."

Just at the door, a step away from the rest of Storybrooke, Regina's knee buckled and but for Emma's tight grip around her waist, she would have fallen. After she steadied her brunette lover, Emma turned to look back over her shoulder at her mother. Her eyes were a clear green surrounded by shadowy smudges of fatigue.

"Y'know, I know that I'll never be a perfect princess like you and Regina will never be a dashing prince like David. We don't have a fairy tale romance with a picture-perfect happy ending. We're broken. Both of us are traumatized, messed up, and unbalanced. We have dark pasts full of terrible mistakes. We both have demons inside of us. We both thought we didn't deserve love." Emma's arm tightened around Regina's waist and she carefully took the coffee out of the brunette's hand. Regina, as if exhausted, let her head slide sideways and rest on Emma's shoulder. "We're broken in ways that most people can't even imagine, but our jagged edges fit together just right. We understand one another, we fix each other. We are stronger and more whole together then we could ever be apart. Regina isn't destroying our family, Snow." Emma sighed, and let her shoulders sag and for a moment she was the lost girl once more, "you are." They slipped out the door with that, Emma holding it open for Regina before returning to her side to support her as they walked together towards their home.

The bells above the door hadn't even stopped jingling when Snow's first sob erupted from her throat.

"Dear God." Ashley wiped a tear from her face, "I had no idea that things were so _bad_."

Grumpy, rougher, cruder and surlier since burying his brothers, let out a sigh, "Well, Sister, their Happy Ending aint so happy."

Marco, his arms wrapped around his young-once-more-son, shook his head. "They saved their boy and us all and this is the price that they pay." He waited a beat, "They didn't want us to know." He looked to Snow and David, "And they especially did not want you two to know."

David, still shaking from his experience, shook his head. "Had we known it was this bad we could have helped her. We could have gotten her away from Regina before things got this bad."

Ruby chuckled, it was a dry, humorless sound. "You don't get it. None of you do." Funny, Ruby reflected, she hadn't seen it either. She had looked at Regina every day for years upon years and had never seen it until she was literally half-blind. Suddenly it was like she saw everything clearer than before, things had finally started making sense.

"Emma isn't going to just get better. Even if we could magically rip the powers of the Dark One out of her body. It's in her heart now, her soul. She has a monster inside of her and she has to fight every single day to keep it in check." Ruby knew all about monsters. "Regina isn't corrupting her, or making things worse. Hell." She tossed her hair and let the ruined side of her face show, "She's probably the only thing standing between us and a real taste of Emma's dark side. Regina's not the moon that causes Emma's beast to come out, she's the cloak that helps reign the beast in."

The Evil Queen, the dark and wicked woman she had fought so long against. The woman who haunted nightmares and ruined lives was gone. The Evil Queen was gone and in her place a new Regina had been born. Regina and Emma had come full circle because today Regina hadn't been the villain, she had been the hero. Today Regina had shown them all that she was the Savior.

Ruby watched the crowd slowly return to their meals, or in Snow and David's case, leave silently.

Things settled back into the daily rhythm that Storybrooke had counted on for twenty-eight years. Storybrooke was the same as it had always been, Ruby thought as she bussed tables and took orders. It was them, all of them, who had changed. Not just because of the curse breaking, either. It wasn't as simple as that, not anymore. Nothing was simple, black and white or clean-cut, and she saw that now. Still, though, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. She looked towards the back corner booth where Belle, still devastated from the loss of Gold, sat. Tears flowed down her cheeks and splashed on her barely touched food.

If Regina and Emma, who had fought so long and so hard and were still struggling, could find love in each other maybe it wasn't hopeless. Maybe love didn't have to be magical and true. Maybe it didn't have to be happily ever after. Maybe it didn't have to be a fairy tale. Maybe love didn't have to be easy or immediate. Maybe, her heart thundered in her chest as she looked at Belle, maybe even monsters, killers and beasts, could love and be loved. She slid into the booth opposite of Belle, reached out and rested her hand over the other woman's.

"Hey, you okay?"

Belle looked up, her blue eyes seemingly deeper and bluer then they had ever been before.

"No."

Her answer was short and to the point.

Ruby squeezed her hand, "I'm sorry that you had to see that. I know that it still hurts."

Belle turned her hand and wrapped her fingers around Ruby's own.

"No one ever understood before, you know. Rumpel was dark." Her accented words were quiet and sad, "He was truly monstrous at times, but inside he was still a good man. He wanted to be that man again for his son and grandson and" Another tear slid down her cheek, "for me."

She couldn't help it, damn her hands, she reached out and wiped Belle's tears away with a careful brush of her fingers.

"I'm sorry. Has anyone even told you that? I'm sorry for your loss, Belle."

She sighed, "Thank you and yes, actually. Regina told me that she was sorry. Emma too. Emma is" Her voice hitched, "Emma is so very sorry. One day, maybe, I'll be able to forgive her."

They sat for a moment in silence, Ruby's hand fell away from Belle's face but Belle didn't let her other hand go. They sat there and Belle raised her own hand to Ruby's face, the ruined side. Ruby automatically flinched away. Belle squeezed her hand. "Stop that."

Ruby sighed, "Now I'm a beast on the inside and the outside." She shrugged and desperately tried to play off the pain. To mourn her face was stupid and ludicrous in the face of Belle's loss.

"You're the one that still doesn't get it, Ruby." She let her fingers brush across the scars and rest lightly on the patch that covered her eye socket. "We all have darkness and monsters in us. It's the choices we make every day. The way we choose to live our lives-whether we cling to past pains or let them go and move on. The way we square our shoulders in the face of adversity. The friends we support, the people that we-"She paused again and her eyes held Ruby's attention because there was something in them, an elusive and un-named emotion that Ruby wanted to be love. "Love. Those are the things that separate the beauties from the beasts, and you are no beast." Belle smiled a little, "And neither are Emma and Regina. You three, like all of us, get up every day and try to be good and that means that there is still hope."

She found herself lost in Belle's eyes. "Hope?"

Belle gently brushed her fingers across her cheek and then let her hand drop to cover their joined ones.

"Hope. There's nothing more powerful than hope."

Fin


End file.
